The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1887-09-22

oVAV u tho most beautiful
poems ever written. and ct the present
moment am talking to q verv intel.
!,eent gentleman, but one who ia. mar.
oon me, at all times q little eccentric >
lone, come, no nonsense. nv fair
Queen Belle l said. You purposelv
m'sunderstand me. refer to vour
conduct in thus encouraging two young
men. once dear friends, tut now ready
TO cut each Others throats. simply
because both of them happen to be
madly in love with a very lovely but
very capricious, coquettish young la
ay. choose between them, Belle, and
the sooner the better. but don't
encourage both or you will regret
your careless folly. Pardon me.
oea. child, l speak only for your
good, believe me. I was your dead
fathers nearest friend. Choose be.
tween them: OF course l added.
Playfully, we all can see that your
choice will light upon that golden
haired young Apollo, Capt. Devine:'
":Indeed,' she replied; with g flash
IN her eyes that gave the lie to her
assumption of indifference. How
very kind and wise you all are, to be
sure, but suppose Should happen to
choose neither Capt. Devine nor his
friend. cannot lady receive the lit.
tie courtesies of society without peo-
pies turning it into a tragic or desper.
ate love AFFAIR."
"Alas, Isabel, answered her sad
~. DO not speak after that fashion
for at heart you are too true; yes,
TOO noble a woman to thus trif1e
with words. You know that both OF
those mon love you, and that it has
broken their lifelong friendship.
Young Devine. indeed. wears his heart
so plainly upon his sleeve that all
can see who will. AS for Harold
"'Yes, as for Harold Charters-well,
what OF hlm?' she said, turning
her proud little head, with it's coronet
OF dark braids, aside for an instant.
Was it my fancy or did the dark
tr:nges droop consciously and shyly
over her eyes?
"'What of him, child? Why, simply
this; a slight, slight thing to a shallow
coquette, but to a true.hearted wom-
an-everything. He loves you with
all his heart; I am sure of it. He
would die for you if necessary, to,
morrow answered.
"'Die, de- she repeated, half pet.
tishly. oh, they all can tell the sto.
ry very smoothly and we'll. Who
wants him to die for me? When it
comes to living consistently and un.
seltishly for q woman's sake-a much
better, kinder thing than dying for
her-see what miserable failures the
majority of our ardent lovers are.
Doctor, did you ever notice how in
different men become once sure that
they have won you? Look at the
ponchalance OF even the kindest hus.
band compared to the eager devotion
OF even the most cruelty ill-treated low.
er. No. Meas love can we'll be com.
pared to the reindeer-it thrives best
upon the scanty growth of a poor
rocky soil, and the moss upon which
most any other creature would thrive
is the food most suitable for it.
Il am not quite ready to become
patient Griselda. Yet if ever am
ready, and if a man is dying to know
whether I love him or his rival. why
let his wit search out some way ia
discover my feelings toward him, as a
woman's intuition would. l shall
certainly not fall into his arms simply
because my lord holds them out to
me. Please lecture no more, my old
and dear friend. You are man and
should know that men love the chase,
and that when it's object is too readily
won it soon loses all it's charm to
Them
cit was plain that in the face OF
such worldly wisdom as displayed by
this little philosopher two and twenty
all argument was useless. and go
said no more, and let matters drift,
uneasy though l continued to be.
What could l do or say? How ex-
plain the premonition of coming
trouble and sorrow which so persist
emily haunted me in the midst of that
gay company. They would only
Taught at me if give utterance to my
fears, or say, Try some OF your own
excellent tonics, doctor. Physician,
heal thyself.
"Isabel's father had long been dead
and her mother had been for years an
and her mother had been for years an
invalid. She also possessed a remark.
ably delicate nervous organization.
and to beg that she should urge her
willful daughter to take q more earn.
est cou,se would be worse than folly,
since it would probably end in driving
the poor lady into an attack OF hys
terra. Our host, the eldest brother
OF Isabel, was q jolly, matter
of-fact young squire. who was
devoted to fox-hunting and sport Of
all kinds-a man who would not un.
derstand my feelings in The least, and
who very likely would consider my in.
reference rather meddlesome and i'm
pertinent should I 90 to him about
the matter. The two younger sons
were mere schoolboys as yet. But
fate hurries us on, and while fretted
and spent wakeful nights over it mat
tiers were destined to come to a crisis
much sooner than even I had antici.
pated.
1.-THE very next evening after my
talk with our young beauty a little
scene in the drawing-room, of which
was an interested observer, convinc.
ed me that had wronged Queen lisa.
bel and that she was acting as she did
from g. motive which was certainly
not so noble as could wish, yet one
that was very natural to a nature SO
sensitive and proud as hers, and
which was more excusable, to say the
least, than mere vanity. 1 felt sure
now that she had really given her
heart wholly to Harold Charters mot
to young Devine, as most OF our
guests believed), and concluded that
there had been at some former time
something very much like an earnest
love affair between this we'll matched
pair; an affair which had been almost
a drawn game between the two. Twas
certain, too. that Miss Isabel had
been piqued into taking her present
course largely through wounded pride
at Harold's persistent holding back
from an open avowal OF his love, when
his manner caused every ono who
knew them to think that it was fully
settled between them.
"Queen Isabel looked very lovely
upon this particular evening as she
! talked with the little crowd of people